There's a monster in the house!

 L. Whale had the vet's again this morning and had his dressing removed - healing nicely - BUT he has to wear a cone to stop him licking the foot, and the others are all terrified of him now, and he is terrified of it . . .  I need to be here to keep the peace . . .  Poor chap.  He has to go back on Thursday and I hope he will be able to have the cone removed then.  It rather scuppers my day out, and going to Patchwork too . . .

Some quick snaps taken yesterday afternoon.  My garden is springing into bloom - and I'm glad I saw the chap who cuts the grass on Saturday as it has sudenly shot up.  The Clematis (Montana rubens) has come into its own this year and looking gorgeous.

Self-seeded Aquilegias.

I need to give my Clematis plants a feed but this had a good feed last year and is rewarding me.  Just need the slugs an snails to leave it alone.  This one is The First Lady.

The lovely yellow Tree Peony which was here when I arrived.

One of the wild Aquilegias which has grown once ancient membrane taken off on the bank.

The colour is pale in this photograph, but this is one of two good patches of Red Campion in the orchard.

All the young trees are in bloom.

Water Avens on the bank - they have spread everywhere.

Last night's meal.  Having had Mince Cobbler two nights in a row - and ruined the cheese scone topping because I got it out of the freezer and left it 36 hours in the fridge, during which time all the flour went grey (!) , I removed last of the topping and reinvented the mince into Cajun Dirty Rice, which hit the spot.  Mushrooms and chopped peppers from the freezer.  There are two more portions, but I will probably freeze those.

I did a quick shop in Llandod yesterday, although before I could do that I had to have a nap on the sofa - 5 mins turned into over an hour, as I was whacked from all the hard work.  I unloaded the last of the things in the car before that and that finished me off.

It was £26 in Aldi, as I bought the cat food in there.  Then the same in Tesco, but I had to go back in as I had forgotten my Wenslydale cheese, and I got some Ancient Grains rolls and mixed salad to go with it.  An other fiver.  The cat food was £11.95 for sachets and £4.50 for Purina biscuits (on special offer).  Meat bought - 2 chicken breasts, Back bacon (haven't bought any this year), and a reduced Pukka steak pie, all from Tesco, which is what bumped the spending in there.  I used the small change from the Fair to pay for the Aldi shop, which helped the exchequer.

I have sold two pieces to D, and need to pack and post those off today.  I need to go and fossick in the stables for the loose polystyrene beads I received around something else and kept to post something breakable.

Tomorrow I have my Patchwork class and later in the week am going to give myself a day out.  I need to take my spinning wheel to be serviced and he lives at Ystradgynlais, down by Craig y Nos, where opera singer Adelina Patti lived.  I shall go on towards Ross-on-Wye and the bottom of Herefordshire to check out some churches.

Meanwhile, L. Whale back to vet today to have his dressing off.  He WILL be pleased.

Mrs Shattered here . . . Around the Fair

 I got dehydrated the past couple of days as I have been SO busy, and didn't pack enough in the way of water etc for the long day yesterday (8 - 5).  No way was I going to part with what will undoubtedly have been stupid money for a drink on the showground.  I ached all over when I got home and after my meal, had a 5 minute shuteye on the sofa which lasted an hour and a half!  I then drank lots and lots of water until bedtime.  I must have been very dry as I only got up once in the night (it's normally twice).

Anyway, some photos from around the Fair.  A display box from the folk who sell the delightful toys and dolls at Malvern - they are just across the way from me.The old doggies are theirs too.  

I think this is a Wild Boar youngster - they are called Humbugs.  Well named.

Tam,  Jon and Rosie came along and Rosie and I (she in pushchair) went for a walk.  We found this garden ornament  . . .

Other offerings on the same stand.

They were filming Bargain Hunt.  I think this is Danny Sebastian. 

My friend's stand.  She always has some really interesting things.  Check out those Victorian shoes and reticules.

I can remember when this Fair was so packed, there were stands all around the Balcony too . . . Now this Hall is half empty, as is the Posh Hall in front of it.

If you have the stables to put it on (I do, but fear the roof might collape from the weight of it!!) this lovely stable clock could be purchased, at a price . . .

The Chair Man's lovely Windsor chairs.  We always have a natter at Fairs.

The Bible Box was made in 1720.  I call it a Bible Box, and you used to see them regularly in auctions when we first came to Wales, but perhaps it is a marriage box.

This is the front hall, with what I would call Top Table displays.  Carefully curated higher end items.  Personally, I need to Pile It High, as I need to get rid of old stock too.  But you pay for the walls to display things on!

Our Dorset friends Bryan and Mary would come to Margam Antiques Fair to sell their Oak and Country furniture (they were Yorkshire by birth and Bryan was very fussy about what he sold).   They used to pay £400 for their stand then - and we are talking around the Millennium, and a few years either side, before they retired.  They used to stay with us, but then the extra drive got too much, so they would stay in a hotel near Margam and we would use the entry tickets they gave us to come and see them and look round, have tea and cake, and Mary always bought me empty jam jars for my jam making.  Happy days.  They are probably no longer with us, as last time we met, Mary's Alzheimer's was becoming obvious and Bryan had Parkinsons. . .

A few quilts now.

Welsh blankets at the bottom.  VERY desirable these days.

And samplers . . .  Ones she shouldn't have bought . . .  I have seen her display at Malvern and at the little Llandeilo Fair.

This was on the toys stand.  Asking price around £295.


Right, this won't do.  I will make some sandwiches up to take, and sort out flasks for cold water and tea.  We aren't due in until 9.30 this morning and the Fair closes at 4, but I hope to be on my way homeward with the first load by then.

 

You don't know the meaning of hard work

 L. Whale has had his dressing changed and the vet was amazed at how well the wound is healing.  He should have this dressing removed on Saturday, but I am at the Fair, and it's a Bank Holiday on Monday, so Tuesday it will be.  I have Hibiscrub for wiping it should he manage to divest himself of the dressing.  

I have spent this morning preparing for the Fair. Going through boxes of old stock in the stables this week, I found these two old ship's lamps, dating from latre Victorian/around the turn of the Century.  This one has been wired for a light.  The red one, below, is in its original state.  Both of these are pre-Covid purchases and I need rid of them.

I really struggled with carrying the heavy tables out to the car.  It was a job Keith used to do, and do easily.  Like carrying two heavy boxes at a time . . .  Having been in the Army, he had a very organized mind, and could pack so well.  It has taken me 3 hours to do what would have taken him half an hour . . .

I am getting there.  8 tables, various display stands, "some" of the stock, an Escape and Evasion box from the 1960s, which Keith acquired on leaving the Army.  I've yet to put in the tablecloths and the net curtains which us stallholders cover our stock with before going home at night.  There are various very breakable things going in the front seat beside me, and paintings, easels, and the last of Keith's militaria to go in on Saturday, along with the blardy quilt - which I now have to sit and FINISH this afternoon.  When people try to haggle you right down on price, they do NOT take into account what it costs me in fuel, time, energy and hundreds for the stand.  (The one here has just gone up £40 and is now £225.) I have found two big copper pieces too - a French cauldron which will just have a quick rub over with very fine wire wool, 0000 grade, and an Arts & Crafts hanging pot which needs a bit more tlc.  I should have tomorrow morning free to do those.  

I have to make a cake to take, and will buy a Gregg's filled baguette for lunch because believe me, if there IS a food stall on the showground, you are not going to get much change out of £20 for something to eat.  They put the prices up so high last year that ALL the regular original food and drink vendors said nope, not doing and didn't have a stand there.  Only a stand selling expensive Thai food (£18 + a hit) bit the bullet.  So, food from home (and Greggs) it is.  

Right, this won't do.  Back to work, but believe me I am feeling my age today.  Today's heading comes from my late m-in-law who, let's face it, did NOT like me (but then I could havve been Princess Ann and I would have still been found wanting!)  She would tell me that when she came to visit - after I had cleaned our entire house (4,000 + square feet) from top to bottom and was absolutely exhausted when she arrived.  I can tell you, the sort of work I have had to do down the years would have floored her!  At my age (I am now 74), she could barely walk to the corner shop and back and used to dry her teabags so they were lighter when she put the dustbin out for the bin men . . .

Another Hell and Damnation Quilt!!

 

It is stunning, this Tumbling Blocks/Baby's Blocks quilt, but quite bulky and hard to work with.  Pippy has jumped on it a couple of times when I had part of it on my lap (stitching) and part of it on the arm of the chair and there are 2 brown diamonds cut through in the middle from her claws, little ratbag, so I may have to review damage and perhaps replace those.  The old cotton velvet is quite frail in places, a couple of completely bald diamonds in the mix, and others are still "moulting" and others have perished and split across the middle so are having to be replaced.

Even the unpicking takes forever as original sewer used lots of tiny stitches.  It's been mended in the past as someone used originally bright pink thread to resew the border - I'm unpicking and replacing with black.

I sat all afternoon and binge-watched a programme on Netflix called Unchosen.  I can recommend it - 6 part drama about a religious sect in England, The Fellowship of the Divine, it is about a young woman and her daughter, wanting to try and escape the confines of its control and narrow-minded bigotry after an Unchosen man is dropped into the mix.  I was intrigued to learn that there are many such sects operating in the UK right now. This was discovered during research behind the series.

I didn't sleep well, woke at 3 a.m. and came downstairs for the first time in months.  Then Alfie Wanted To Go Out - unfortunately as I went to the door I saw the horrid tom cat in our yard, the one who was introduced as a mouser by someone who has brought her horse a field away for grazing.  It has caused no end of trouble, as he fought with Alfie and was responsible for Alfie's broken teeth (he must have hit his head on a rock as they were fighting on the bank, which has rocks at edge). With two elderly cats and my two girls, I do NOT want him about.  I went to the effort and expense to have my cats neutered and spayed.  Other people should do the same.  So I got thoroughly awake, watching over Alfie (and then L. Whale came out) as he had a drink and he wasn't at all impressed by not being allowed to stay out for a mooch around in the moonlight. 

I am going for a walk now - it's a lovely sunny spring day - and then back to finish (hopefully) the quilt, as I want to try and get a bit of gardening done today too, as tomorrow is L. Whale for check up at vets first thing, then packing for the Fair.

The bridge (or rather the river) marks the boundaries of Brecknock and Radnorshire meeting.  I live the Brecknock side.  Today I shall take my walk in Radnorshire, along the old railway line.  

An amputation and a diagnosis for Rosie

 

Here is darling Little Whale, minus a toe and a nasty diggy nail.  No problems from that nail in the future.  I had to take him in at 8.30 this morning, and picked him up at 3.30.  Poor chap had to go on a drip for a while though, because his blood pressure had dropped.  However, I thought I would take back the unused antiobiotics (£52 worth) and got £48 credit, so that helped.  Also, the bill had gone from the £413 quoted (1 hrs' surgery) down to £281, as they did a rapid surgery.  I'm blardy glad about that, but it still had to come out of my savings . . .   I am praying I have a good Antiques Fair this weekend as blimey, I could do with putting some of the £1000 back that has gone out on Vet's bills in the past two months.

He wanted his "scoff" as Keith called it, the moment he came out of the box, and has had Pippi's leftovers too, and has now managed to get upstairs and used the ablutions (litter tray) up there.  I have just put the central heating on for him as he is laid on the floor near the radiator.  Poor boy.  He has to go back for a check up on Thursday.  He ran away and hid when I got the cat carrier out this morning, what will he be like on Thursday?

I have kept very busy today, firstly out in the greenhouse, sewing various cucumber seeds purchased from Real Seeds (and now on the windowsill in my sewing room)  and Tam's Cantaloup melons (to go in my polytunnel, so I shall have to give that a good clean up soon).  Then I transferred my knitting from the too long circular needles to the proper length ones and knitted a row and a half, sat outside at my patio table and chairs.  H.O.T. out there!  Felt a lot more than 16 deg.  I also sewed a bit more(mending) on the Victorian quilt and have done the big chunk at one edge now.  Should hopefully finish it tonight or tomorrow.

I weeded around the bit of lawn with beds surrounding it (plain grass when we moved here) and put down bark chippings on the two sides I'd finished.

Today was also a worrying day for Rosie's health, as Tam took her to Carmarthen to see the Paediatric Rheumatologist there about her knee.  It hasn't improved with keeping, and he said she has Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis :(  She has to go to Cardiff and have a Steroid injection into the knee under a general anaethstetic.  My poor little darling.  She should have painkillers by now though, but she had to have more blood tests this afternoon at her local hospital in Aberystwyth.  She also has to have regular eye tests as this can affect the eyes too.  NOT what we wanted to hear.  The positive news is that the steroid injection should work, but the downside is that it IS an auto-immune disease . . .  Such a worry.

I had a walk along by the river in the Groe this morning.  The trees have their fresh green leaves coming through and it was so beautiful.

I hope that you have had a positive day, whatever you are doing.

Bluebell woods and skimming stones

I had a lovely day at Tam's yesterday.  I looked after Rosie whilst she painted another wall in Rosie's bedroom-to-be, and I did masses and masses of washing up, and a few other little helpful jobs.  Then Jon had to take an over-tired Rosie out for a run in the car to get her off to sleep, and we met up with him in nearby woodlands, where there were level walks and bluebells.  It was lovely.

Marsh Kingcups, aka Mollyblobs, as Weaver of Grass used to call them and I do in her memory.

The shallow root base of a coniferous tree, brought down in one of the storms in the past year (Darragh I would think).  We passed another one with a root base twice this size!

There was a wooden bench to enjoy this view from.

The River Ystwyth, which reminded me of the Cothi (down the hill from where we used to live).

We practiced skimming stones, and then Jon gave us a competition where we had to chuck a stone up and it was meant to get an inverted splash - a sort of clunk noise.  He was best at that!

Rosie: "Ready, steady, GO!"  She and Tam paddled too.  It was so lovely there, and I didn't want to leave, but had to get back as it was nearly 5 p.m. and an hour and a half's drive home.  

I spent the evening working on the Victorian quilt and first thing this morning, when it was still a bit too chilly to garden, I sewed some more and made good progress.

In the greenhouse, I have moved the few runner beans (SCarlet Emporor) which grew, and the trays of Cosmos, to the seed stack to start hardening off.  Now I have Cucumbers, Squashes etc to get sown.

My "old" strawberries are now outside, covered in flowers, and the half a dozen I bought on Friday have doubled in size.  

Right, back to the garden.

A Silent Scream

 

I went to my Spinning and Weaving group yesterday and met a lovely group of people.  They helped me with my spinning wheel, which needs fettling - I have the number of a chap Ystradgynlais way who will sort it for me.  The wheel isn't running true.  I suspect when we moved house, it was crammed in as the uprights seem a bit loose now too.  I went out in the hall and stood and practiced my drop spindling and it came back to me, though I need to practice a lot more.  Knitting - well, go back and do it on DPNs I was advised.  Rats!  Would have preferred the circular needle but the one I have is too long in the loop for the number of stitches I have.  Perhaps if I cast on looser . . .

Above is the fabulous view of Pen y Fan and Crybyn from the lane half a mile down from Llandew village hall, where the group meets.

I didn't stay until the end as the weather was luring me back to do a couple of hours in the garden.  I planted my white Foxglove in a small planter, and weeded a couple of others (weeds round the roses), watered recent plantings, planted the half a dozen strawberry plants I got in B&M Bargains,  trimmed the old growth on my Kilmarnock willow, and generally did a bit of weeding and tidying up.  Baby trees soon spring up if overlooked . . .

In the evening I rewatched the last episode of Outlander, but at the end I suddenly fell apart when Fergus unexpectedly dies in the fire at the print shop, and Marsali says she has no body to hold and grieve for, there are only ashes.  I looked across at Keith's ashes, in their lovely willow casket, and cried, screaming internally at my loss.  I guess it is the same for so many widows, on their own and missing the partner of a lifetime so greatly.  

When I went to bed, my cold had reached my larynx and I felt like I was going to suffocate, and I kept trying to clear my throat to no avail.  I was scared to go to sleep in case I woke up desperate for air, as I did the other night.  It was gone midnight before I finally drifted off, and I was ok.  

I'm off to Tam's in a minute, so they can get some jobs done which need two of them - I being the Rosie minder.  Enjoy your weekend.